


as fragile as glass

by itstiredandy



Category: Naruto
Genre: Implied InoSaku, M/M, SasuNaru - Freeform, Soulmate AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:28:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24062878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itstiredandy/pseuds/itstiredandy
Summary: In a world where soulmates are found through the shards of glass in your hand, some people wish to ignore it.Naruto Uzumaki is not one of those people.His soulmate is.
Relationships: SasuNaru, Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto, implied inosaku - Relationship
Comments: 8
Kudos: 43





	as fragile as glass

**Author's Note:**

> this is a soulmate au created!  
> if you want to write it, you have permission, I just want to be credited   
> anyway, hope you enjoy!!

The memory of when he first noticed the shard of glass on his right hand is ever absent to Naruto Uzumaki. Yet, to the day that he is twelve years old, he is consumed by the question of why it is there. Some adults he knew didn't have one, even some of the kids his age don’t have them, and his parents didn't as well. He asked them about it, somewhere around his twelfth birthday.

“I was wondering when you’d say something.” Minato grinned and gently elbowed his wife. “You owe me 1000 yen.”

“Shut up.” Kushina flickered his cheek and squatted along with her husband to see their child eye to eye. “Naruto, that shard means you have a soulmate. Do you know what that is?” 

“No, tell me!!”

“Well, your mom is mine. And I am hers.” Minato continued. “We found each other because our shards glowed when we were near each other. A soulmate is someone you’ll get to spend the rest of your life with, someone special to you. Has your shard glowed yet, Naruto?”

He searched his memories and answered, “No.” which was a lie. But then again, it would be easy to forget such an event when it happened you were merely three years old. “How did it happen with you?!”

They told him, as best they could when their child was a hyperactive kid who couldn’t help but give them a question every two minutes. 

Their story started in middle school. Kushina had been a new student in Minato’s class and that’s where they first met. The environment does make for a rather awkward reveal though. When all of your classmates find out who your soulmate is the exact moment you do, endless teasing followed. Young Kushina had had even less control over her angry outbursts than she does as a forty something year old mother and her classmates suffered the worst of it. It had also made her resent her now husband for a few long months. Yet, he persisted in helping her. Not because they were soulmates, Minato claimed, but because he knew what it had been like being the new kid no one wanted to befriend. Eventually, Kushina confronted him and this was exactly what he told her, along with saying that he would be there for her when the bullies tried anything, not to protect her but to give her support. 

“It was really easy to fall for him after that.” His mother looked at his father, leaning on his shoulder. 

It made Naruto giggle. “That’s so cheesy.”

“But it led us,” She leaned closer and booped his nose, “to having you.”

“And you,” Minato pulled him closer, embracing him in between himself and Kushina, “are the best thing we could have asked for.”

“Dad-“ The child kicked the air, his cheeks being squished by both his parents, “Mom!”

They kissed each side of his head before standing up. 

"But you don't have your shards anymore!!" Small Naruto said, in distress.

"Oh, they slowly disappear, the more you spend time with your soulmate." Minato cleared up, ruffling his hair. "It's not a bad thing, I promise."

"HA???" The child pouted. "But I don't want mine to disappear!"

His parents giggle, holding onto his hand. "It just happens, Naruto."

He continues to pout as they continue walk down the street on their way home. And right when they were about to turn the last corner-

“It’s glowing!” He tugged his parents’ hands. “ MOM, DAD IT'S GLOWING!” 

The two stopped and kneeled down.

“OH!” Kushina took his right hand, the blue glow shining through. “They’re so close!”

“Be attentive, Naruto, but also patient.” Minato advised, with a hand on his son’s shoulder. “Building a relationship is still up to you and them, being soulmates doesn’t change that.”

“RIGHT!” Naruto agreed, nodding once. “Got it, Dad!”

“Aww, this is so exciting!” Kushina gave the boy a crushing hug. “Are you excited, Naruto??”

“I would be if you weren’t crushing my bones!” He tried to push her arms away, helpless against his mother‘s strength and will. 

But denying he was thrilled would be a straight up lie. And as he and his parents continued on home, Naruto could’ve sworn he caught an orange glow from the corner of his eyes.

[…]

Naruto wouldn’t actually be near his soulmate again until high school. 

For four years, the boy wondered who his soulmate was and what they were like - he figured they’d have to love ramen as much as he did and were as competitive as he was, and loved people as much as he did, among a few other things. How else could they be his soulmate? 

Yet, when he saw his shard glow on his first day of sophomore year, he couldn’t see the other glowing back. He registered it only as he made his way out of the classroom, it being the end of the day, but Kiba had told him it had been glowing since first period. It was a given that he didn’t notice it as soon as he stepped inside since it had been before midday and Naruto slouched in like a zombie, with only half of his brain working.

“Naruto,” Sakura caught up to him when he left in a tantrum-throwing-childlike huff, “are you okay, what happened?”

“Sakura!” He pouts at his friend, arms crossed over his chest. “You didn’t see a glowing shard today, did you?” 

“A few, actually.” She tells him. “But none near you. Is that what’s making you upset?”

“Well, yeah! You know I’ve been waiting to find them since I was twelve!” 

“Okay,” She stretches the last syllable. “I get that. But you have to be patient, that’s all.”

“You know I’m bad at that!”

“So… distract yourself!” She suggests. “You can’t be obsessing over this up until you find them.”

“I know-“ He snaps, gnarling until a thought pops into his head. “Come with me to the arcade!”

“I-“ She tries to tell him no but changes her mind, fishing her phone from her pocket, “Let me text my parents, kay?”

“Yay! Thanks, Sakura.”

Once the girl’s done, they walk to the nearest arcade place, which is actually on their way to both their houses. The first game he drags her to play is Mortal Kombat.

“TAKE THAT!”

Sakura slams the button, making her character of choice perform a killing blow on Naruto’s.

“UGH- How come I only ever lose to you?!”

She hehed at him and shrugged. “We’ve been playing since we were kids, it looks like I’m just better than you.”

“Sakura~ you’re so mean…”

“We can go again,” she leans on the control panel, “and I’ll go easy on you so you won’t be such a sore loser!”

He slams his hands on the same panel. “YOU’RE ON!”

As they tried to start another match, the screen went black and the machine made a turning off sound. Both of them took a step back, startled.

“Uh oh-“ Naruto turns to his friend, “did we do that?!”

“I hope not!” The girl yells. “My parents will kill me if we have to pay for repairs!”

“Ah… I’ll just-“ He scratches the side of his head and looks around the place, laying eyes upon an uniformed employee. “I’ll go talk to that guy! Be right back.”

Running his way up to the employee, Naruto got a closer look at him. The guy seemed about his age, with black hair that fringed close to his black eyes and a puffy rounded face. He couldn’t lie, the guy was damn gorgeous. 

“Hey, hi, sorry to interrupt your work, but the machine we were using turned off. Could you take a look at it?”

“Uhm…” He continued to sweep the floor. “Give me a second.” Taking the broom and shovel with him, the employee went behind the arcade counter at the entrance and gave back two minutes later. “Alright. Which was the machine you mentioned?”

“I’ll take you to it!” Naruto moved, hoping he would follow. He did. “Here, this one.”

The guy kneeled down behind the game and began examining the insides. Without a single word, he worked.

“Naruto-“ Sakura hissed on Naruto’s ear. 

“What?” He hissed back. 

“I have something to tell you when we leave.”

“Why can’t you tell me now?”

“Because it’s a private conversation!”

“Sheesh, fine.”

Right then, the employee stood up, closing the machine’s back door. “Yea, it was just a short circuit. I’ll call the manager, you’re fine.”

The two friends sighed in relief, leaning on each other as their bodies relaxed. 

“Thank you! Ah…” Sakura squints her eyes, reading his badge. “Sasuke, is it?”

“Yeah.”

“Really, thank you very much.” She smiles.

“It was nothing. Have a good day.”

“You too!” The two yell back together.

Sakura leads Naruto out of the arcade with their arms linked. “Naruto, forget what I told you earlier.”

“Huh? Which part?”

“The being patient part!! Didn’t you notice?? Your shard was glowing around Sasuke!”

“WHAT?!” He turns his head back. “What, lemme go back!”

“Naruto,” She lets go of his arm and stands in front of him, hands on her hips, “what are gonna do if you get to talk to him?”

“Tell him we are soulmates, of course!”

“He probably already knows, Nars.” She sighs. “He had gloves on but so did I when I met Ino, and I still felt it. Which means that so did he, and if he didn’t act on it is because he doesn’t want to acknowledge it, which is honestly fair, since you two barely know each other! So, be patient.”

“But you just told me to forget about being patient!”

“I meant with finding your soulmate since now you have! But now you need to be patient in building a relationship with him.”

“Ah… right.” Naruto deflated, his pout looking as vulnerably cute as the eyes of a pleading puppy. “Right, my dad tells me the same thing every time we talk about this.”

“See?" His friend elbows his side and smiles. "Start slow and it'll happen eventually."

The boy huffs and slouches, walking along with her. "If you say so."

[…]

Naruto went back to the arcade again during the weekend. His parents dropped him off, Kushina cheering him on as she ruffled the top of his hair and squeezed his cheeks. They asked him to tell them all the details later.

With the promise that he would and an inevitable grin on his face, Naruto skipped his way inside the arcade. When he located Sasuke, the other boy was talking to a client.

"Excuse me, but I asked you to check my card two minutes ago and you just haven't."

Sasuke closed his eyes and let out a deep breath. "Yes, sir, I'm aware, but as I told you before, your card has expired, you have to buy another one."

"You have to be lying, I got this one last week!"

"I'm sorry, sir, but I cannot do anything about that." 

"Well, I know I'm never coming back here again, you just lost a customer!"

The guy stomped his way out and once he was out of sight, Sasuke rolled his eyes, having the face of a man who had lost every brain cell he'd ever had.

"Good riddance." He whispered to himself, still loud enough for Naruto to hear. He wasn't that far away either.

As Sasuke moves to get behind the counter, Naruto follows. He upholds the weight of his head with his hand, resting his arm on the wood as Sasuke crouches down to rearrange the prize window. He waits for him to stand up.

"Rough day?"

"You have no idea." The other replies with dry interest. "So, what can I do for you?"

"Hm." Naruto pouts as he thinks. "Tell me, what's the most expensive, ticket wise, prize?"

"Yeah, that's the big fluffy Tanuki up there." Sasuke points above his head, where a shelf holds up a - surely enough - big fluffy Tanuki plushie. "It costs six thousand tickets."

"SIX THOUSAND?!"

The guy grins, leaning on his side. "Yeah."

"Well, fine! Challenge accepted."

"I didn't challenge you."

Naruto walks away, letting his head hang back for a second. "Can't hear you, Sasuke!"

"I- wait-"

He stops, turning his face towards him and arching both his eyebrows as he waits for what the arcade employee has to say. But it takes him a minute, as he sneers and squints his eyes, taking time to think.

"I'm Naruto, by the way." He says. "Naruto Uzumaki."

[…]

"You saw him again??" Sakura questioned him as they walked around the mall. "How could you betray me like that, Naruto Uzumaki?"

"How was it a betrayal?!" He responds.

"I'm invested, you didn't even tell me you were going to the arcade again!! How did it go, tell me everything!"

"Well, he knows my name now. And he seemed amused when I implied I would try and win enough tickets to get the Tanuki plushie."

"A TANUKI PLUSHIE?!?!?!"

The excitement his friend shows by squeezing his arm - with a bit too much strength - and squealing makes him chuckle. It was such a Sakura thing to do.

"It's yours after I win it."

"YESSSS!" Sakura jumps. "Thank you, Naruto!"

He chuckles again giving her a side hug and a squeeze. "But look, if he knows I'm his soulmate, it sure didn't seem like it!"

"You think he knows that you know?"

"Probably not, or else he'd say something right? Both of us know, I know he knows but he doesn't know that I know and that I know that he knows."

Sakura snorts. "Complicated yet interesting. So, your plan is just to keep going to the arcade every week under the pretense of getting me the Tanuki plushie all to get to know him?"

"It's not a pretense if I'm actually doing it!"

"Well, that's true. But hey, didn't you say your shard glows in class every day? Did you never see Sasuke around??"

"I-"

It takes him a moment to go through all of his memories, even if just a tiny one, because Naruto spends a lot of his time in school drooling over his desks. If he ever caught sight of Sasuke in his class… he just hadn't connected the dots.

His friend stared at him before giving a deadpan response. “You didn’t notice, did you?”

“No~” She punched his arm. “OWW!”

“Dumbass, you spend years after your soulmate, he’s in your class and you don’t even see it?!”

Naruto grunts, dropping his shoulders. “You know how I am in school-“

“Yeah, useless.”

“That hurts, Sakura.”

“You implied it yourself.”

“MEANIE!” he pouts, draping himself over her.

She giggles, pushing his cheek away from hers. “Shut up.”

[…]

Next time he went to school, he made an effort to be awake enough to look for Sasuke. And the second he sits in his usual spot - second desk on the row closest to the door - he stares at the back of a head with silky dark black hair, recognizing it immediately.

“SASUKE!” His posture straightens as the surprise sinks in. 

“Huh?” The boy turns around, arm resting on the top of his chair, his long sleeved gloves covering his hands up until the tips of his fingers. Really, no one could see if a shard was glowing under that fabric. “Oh-“ His eyes light up at the somewhat familiar face, as he rubs the sides of it. “Naruto.”

“You don’t really seem surprised to see me here.”

“Well yeah, I’ve seen you here before, stupid.”

“You have?!”

“Don’t tell me you didn’t notice me until today?”

“.... Mayhaps.”

Sasuke sighs before snorting. “It’s going to take you forever to get those tickets for the Tanuki.”

“What does that have to do with anything?!”

“You just seem slow.”

“Just because I sleep in class it doesn’t mean I’m not smart!”

He grins. “Didn’t say you weren’t.”

“Oh-“

“See you at the arcade then.”

That was flirting. Was it? Definitely. Maybe. Yes. Naruto wanted it to be! Yet he couldn’t think of a damn good thing to say back and so he scrunched up his nose in frustration as his lips curled into a frown. Gripping at his hair, Naruto was almost pulling it out by the time their teacher showed up.

At home, he stomped his way into his room and dropped his backpack on the floor, letting his body to the same but on the oh so comfy mattress. His muscles relaxed as he lied down. They tensed up again for a second when a knock came to his door.

“No ‘I’m home’ for us?” Minato leaned on the doorway.

“Ah, sorry, Dad.” Naruto sits up to talk to him, posture slouched. 

The man walks up to him and takes a seat at his side. “Something on your mind?”

It takes him zero seconds to decide he wants to tell his dad all of it.

“Remember how I met Sasuke at the arcade? I realized he’s in my class at school too.”

“Oh!”

“And… I don’t think he wants a soulmate, dad.”

“What makes you think that?

“Well, the fact he hides his shard is an indicator!” Naruto snaps, sighing. “But then he might’ve flirted with me today and I don’t know if it meant anything, considering-“

“Son,” Minato puts a hand on his head, ruffling his hair, “all you can do is talk to him. I understand if you don’t want to straight up tell him you’re soulmates and you don’t need to! You’re still getting to know him, but asking won’t hurt.”

“Right!” The boy nods, feeling encouraged by his father’s advice. “I’ll do that!”

Lightly pushing his son’s head aside, Minato stands up again and stops by the doorway. “Now go talk to your mother or she’ll burn the house down.”

Naruto gets off his ass at the speed of light under the threat. “YEEK-“

[…]

They meet again, so surprisingly, at the arcade.

It was the weekend and Naruto arrived with the determination of a hundred overly determined people. Although… that was his usual disposition in the face of life.

Sasuke, upon glancing at the front door and catching his gaze, approached him. “Hey there.”

Naruto grinned. “Hey. I’ll be here all day.”

“Cool.” The employee turned on his heels and turned his head to him. “I feel as if I should let you know though, we’re having a child’s birthday party here today. Starts at two.”

The boy huffed, going inside. “It’s whatever, I can still get my tickets.”

This makes Sasuke laugh, covering it up by facing the other away. “Good luck with that.”

“Sasuke,” Narutl speeds up to catch up to him, “what do I need good luck for?”

“I gotta get back to work.”

“SASUKE!!”

“You’ll be just fine.”

“THEN WHY GOOD LUCK?!”

The other simply waved with his back towards him and took his place behind the counter, cleaning it with a cloth. Somehow knowing he wouldn’t get any more answers, Naruto goes to one of his favorite machines: a shooting game. He picks the plastic gun connected to it by a wire and it’s surprisingly heavy, like the weight of a feather that has a lot of other friends around. He picks it up and starts the game. Selecting endless mode, he prepares to shoot. 

He’s been playing for a while when a feeling creeps up on the back of his spine. It doesn’t take him long to recognize what it is.

When he speaks, he doesn’t take his eyes off the screen. “What is it, Sasuke?” 

“Nothing.” The voice replies. “How long have you been at it?”

“What time is it?”

“Wow, that long?”

He shots but another creature lunges at his character from the side and he dies. In response, Naruto drops his shoulder and huffs, squinting his eyes at the machine as he curses his own damn self for getting distracted over a silky- hoarse- gorgeous sounding voice- Sasuke had done it on purpose, no doubt.

"You lost." He points out,

Naruto turns and digs his heels on the ground, directing his frustrated glare now at him. "I hadn't noticed." 

"You still got a few tickets."

Sure enough, he sees a string of tickets out of the corner of his eyes. He kneels down and picks them out to count them - fifty total - and even being as horrible at maths as he was, he still knew that this was less than just one percent of what he needed.

He clicked his tongue. "What time is it, again?"

"Didn't tell you before but it's almost 2. The gremlins are coming, Naruto, you're running out of time."

The boy tries and fails to suppress his laughter. "Damn, don't you like children? How do you work at an arcade??"

All Sasuke does in response shrugs with a big of a pout. Naruto chuckles at it. And then they hear the faint sound of a thousand footsteps outside as the door rings open and a mob of children storm in.

"Well, it's to the battlefield for me. As for you, have fun and don't die. I'll see you later." The arcade's employee salutes him, disappearing out of view before Naruto could even react to it.

"WAIT-"

The sound of kids squealing and giggling drown out his voice. Not too long after, most of the machines are taken and Naruto has to struggle his way to sit down in the car seat shaped seat of one of the race car games. 

At the end of the day, he has little over a hundred and twenty tickets.

[…]

"You know," Naruto leaned over his school desk, staring up at the blacked haired kid he definitely had developed a crush on in the span of mere weeks, "my quest for the six thousand tickets would go a lot smoother if I had someone to help me."

Sasuke snarks at him, putting his back against the wall. "Don't you have someone already?"

"Huh?"

"The pink haired girl you came with the first day."

"Oh?" Naruto grins. "Is someone jealous?"

"Who knows, I'm not familiar with this someone person."

Naruto sits up straight, "Jerk!"

"Stupid." His crush retorts without missing a beat.

"You know,- I meant to ask you for that help."

"Hm, and what do I get out of it?"

"My awesome company."

"Pass."

"Sasuke!!"

He smiles. "Sure, I'll help you, any day that isn't a work day for me."

"YES!" Naruto cheers, bumping his fist into the air before fishing his phone out of his pocket. "Gimme your number so we can fix up a date."

Sasuke sighs but complies. "I feel like I'll come to regret this."

"Only if you hate to have fun." The blond clicks his tongue.

Sasuke puts his elbow on Naruto's desk, using that hand to hold up his head. "You're strangely confident."

"It doesn't seem to put you off."

"Oh, it does, very much." 

The response comes off deadpanned, dry and sarcastic. And for whatever reason, Naruto doesn't think it's meant to be offensive and he doesn't take any offense. And if he were to be honest, he wouldn't even if Sasuke had meant it as one. 

"Funny." He shots, mirroring Sasuke and his stance, getting close to his face. "Cause you're still here."

"Eh, I have nowhere better to be."

"How-"

Their conversation was interrupted by the teacher walking in and greeting the class. They eyed each other in a silent agreement - they would continue the flirtatious talk after school. Except you know that neither of them would admit they were flirting even though every classmate of their would sense the tension from miles and miles away.

[…]

That night, when Naruto tries to go to bed, his shard stares back at him as if to call his ass out on the fact he had a massive crush on a guy who knew next to zero about. But then again, they were supposed to be soulmates. And then, yet again, the more they talked, the more Naruto wanted to keep on going.

It was somewhere after midnight when he pulled out his phone and texted the new number on his catalogue. 

**Hey, Sasuke**

The reply came almost immediately, which had Naruto blinking at the scene. He did it several times before answering back.

_ Hey, Naruto. Any reason that you're texting me at one in the morning? _

**Dont know, any reason youre answering?**

_ Maybe. _

**I can't sleep**

That, was half of the truth. Or just maybe an outright lie - he might be able to sleep if he persisted. He simply didn't want to.

_ Why? _

**Just thinking about stuff**

_ Ah, yes, stuff can be very distressing. _

**Listen,,,,**

**it's true and it can be**

_ So you decided to text me? _

**Yeah. Any problems?**

_ None. _

**So why are you up at 1 am?**

_ Hm, good question. _

**I have more, like why does the sky look so much better at this time? and, and, why, oh why, does my mom always ends up burning something in the kitchen-**

The next response took a bit longer to come.

_ Are these the things keeping you up this late? _

**Partially. You?**

_ Problems with my parents. _

**Oh**

Naruto hesitates with what he wants to say next.

**Do you want to talk about it?**

Three dots appear on the screen. And then they disappear. They do this at least three times and on the third, Naruto had already clocked out - phone in hand with the light of screen touching his ceiling as he snores his way into a dream.

[…]

He reads the reply first thing after he wakes up.

_ We don't get along too well. _

Short and vague but enough to convey a myriad of feelings. Naruto can't imagine not getting along with his own parents but he's had friends who just can't deal with theirs - Sakura herself being an example. And the way she talks about them makes him think she could be a thousand times happier if she didn't live with them. That one sentence makes him wish he could reach Sasuke and just hug the problem away.

He settles for the next best thing - setting up a date for the arcade. They agree on Saturday after lunch.

So comes the weekend and for the first time since a wedding of his mom's friend that Naruto was dragged to by Kushina herself, he was worried about how he'd look - more importantly, what Sasuke would think of it. 

He pulls a mountain of clothes from his wardrobe and drops it on the floor, taking it to his bed next. And then he starts with the pants. Stretchy jeans, light blue, that's easy. What is hard is picking out a shirt - most of them where one block of solid color, usually white, orange or black. But as he searched through the pile, he remembers one in particular that his mom always complimented him when he wore it. It has an intricate sunlike design painted in gold in a canvas of dark grey cloth with a V neckline and short sleeves. It has him a while to find it but it's there and he's relieved. He does love that shirt as well.

The shoes are also a no brainer, he picks the high tops orange converse with black laces. And a light brown coat, if it happens to be windy or the AC in the arcade gets to be a bit too much.

"I hope you're not thinking you'll leave with your room looking like this."

The sudden comment from Kushina makes Naruto jump up, startled. He turns on his heels to face her.

"SHEESH, MOM!" He shoots. "Way to give me a heart attack."

"Clean your room, Naruto." She warns, walking away.

"Yeah yeah!"

Once he's done, he sits with his parents to eat and Minato drives him to the arcade. He arrives fifteen minutes late, something Sasuke doesn't hesitate to point out.

"Sorry, I'm sorry!" He glues his hands together and holds it in front of himself. "I had to clean my room and then lunch took a bit longer than I expected a-"

"It's okay." The boy half smiles. He looks more comfy - huggable - than Naruto, with a zip up hoodie, baggy pants and combat boots. "I got here only five minutes ago myself."

"Then don't nag me about being late!" 

Sasuke chuckles as they walk inside. "But it's fun."

"I'll show you actual fun!!" Naruto grabs him by the wrist and runs to the VR section.

"Do I get a say in what we play?"

"Hmmm, depends." 

"On what?"

"If your taste is good or not."

"That's subjective."

Naruto ignored this by humming as he looked at the list of VR games. When he found one he liked, he went to the employee behind the counter and payed for the both of them to play for half an hour. When Sasuke tried to get out his wallet to pay for his part, Naruto grabbed his arm and dragged him to where the goggles sat.

He turned to his crush with a smile and said, "Just have fun."

"I don't see how we'll be getting any tickets out of th-"

"Shhhh, just put the goggles on and grab the sticks!"

With a huff, Sasuke complied. Before their eyes, the screen appears, they write in their names and a list of songs come up.

"Is this Beat Saber?" 

"Have you played it before?"

"No."

A smile creeps on Naruto's lips. "Oh,,, really?"

"What are you thinking, Naruto?"

"Noooooothing." He says as he picks a song and sets it to the hardest mode available, making him a certified liar.

The screen shows static arrows in a line that stretches into the horizon. And then the music starts, Naruto hits most of the arrows with ease but also a bit of sweat. He hears Sasuke grunting every now and again, which probably means he's missed every time he does. At the end of some eight songs, they take off the goggles and return the sticks to the employee. When Naruto looks at Sasuke, he sees the sweat and pursed lips as the boy huffs.

"I," He squints his eyes at him, pointing at his chest, "hate you."

"No, you don't because now is your turn to choose." 

This makes Sasuke widen his eyes, grinning as he processes what Naruto said. "My turn, I see. Come with me then."

Without much hesitation, the blond follows, curious to see how Sasuke would enact his revenge. Did he know Naruto enough to get a game he either a) didn't like or b) wasn't good at? He had his answer when he got stopped in front of a claw machine.

Sasuke beams at him. "You go first."

"Oho~" Naruto grumbles. "You are evil."

"Not more than you." He steps aside, giving way to Naruto. "Be my guest."

Grumbling, the blond curses under his breath and grabs the joystick. He takes a second to choose a prize - a plastic green t-rex - and moves the metal claw. Part of him knows this is impossible and he's never gonna get that toy but an even bigger part of him wants to be spiteful and brag about winning to Sasuke. Guess what actually happens.

"UGH!" Naruto grunts after the t-rex slips through the claw before reaching the exit hole. "I'm trying again!"

Sasuke giggles. "Good luck."

Being it genuine or not, the condescending wish did give the boy motivation. However, after ten tries, Naruto was losing patience - and a lot of money. Eventually, he sighs, steps back and lets Sasuke take his turn.

And it takes him five seconds to fail just as Naruto had done.

"But you-"

"I never said I was good at it myself."

Naruto laughs, throwing his body back before grabbing his arm, with his right hand. "My turn to choose again!"

From the corner of his eyes, Naruto catches Sasuke staring down at the glowing shard as he's taken away. Naruto expects him to talk about it, ask him about his soulmate, yet he's met with complacent silence. And he wonders if he should bring it up himself. Eventually, he talks himself ouf of it. He doesn't want to ruin the fun atmosphere they had going right then - plus he had Sasuke's number now, he could always talk to him another day.

He takes Sasuke to another one of his favorites. As Sasuke stares down at the machine, he takes a second before slowly turning his head to Naruto.

"Whac-a-mole?" He grumbles in a low voice. "Seriously?"

Naruto smirks, grabbing the left side hammer as he leans towards him. "You love it."

"Hate it actually."

"What?? Really?!"

"Yes."

"How can you hate whac-a-mole? You're whacking moles!"

"I just think it's boring."

"Ugh-" Naruto grunts, dropping his shoulders and letting go of the hammer before putting his hand around Sasuke's wrist to drag me somewhere else.

"What are you doing?"

"Picking another game."

No response comes. Yet, it's like Naruto can sense the smile Sasuke gives as he lets himself get taken away for the second time.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading and pls leave a comment!


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